Give us a Possession
by Jesus' girl 4ever
Summary: A story about the daughters of Zelophehad, whom you can read about in Numbers 27. Written for my father.
1. Mahlah

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 1: Mahlah**

Zelophehad paced the ground in front of his tent. His wife was having their first baby, and he was worried about her. The cries from inside the tent multiplied. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the midwife opened the curtain. "Zelophehad? You have a daughter."

He excitedly entered the tent to see his beloved Tirzah lying on the mat and holding a baby wrapped in a blanket. "Come see your daughter." She said, holding the baby toward him. He leaned closer and picked the baby up and held her in his arms. "Are you disappointed it's a girl?" she asked, worriedly.

"No. No, no. Not at all. She is beautiful because she looks just like you, my love." His wife blushed at his unabashed compliment. "What shall we name her?" she asked.

Just then, the little girl sneezed. "She seems to be sickly." His wife said.

"Well, how about Mahlah?" he said.

"Good. Welcome to life, Mahlah." He and his wife shared a loving embrace with their new baby.


	2. Noah

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 2: Noah**

"Father! Why is Mother screaming so much? What is wrong with her?" 3- year- old Mahlah asked.

"Do not worry. She will be all right." Her father tried to reassure her, but, truth be told, he was worried about her, too. He held his little daughter in his arms as they waited for what seemed like hours. Eventually, the midwife exited the tent. "Zelophehad? You have another daughter."

He stood, holding his little girl. "Tirzah?"

"She is sleeping, but she is fine. You can see the baby if you are quiet." She said pointedly, eyeing Mahlah.

"We will be, will we not, Mahlah?" he asked his little girl, who violently nodded. He chuckled before ducking into the tent. He saw his beautiful wife sleeping with the baby in her arms. He sat down, still holding Mahlah, and carefully took the baby from his wife. He remembered how tired she had been when she had had Mahlah. Now, she rests. "Noah." he whispered. "That's what we'll name you, my younger daughter. Noah, for you helped your mother find rest."


	3. Hoglah

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 3: Hoglah**

"Mahlah? What is wrong with Mother?" Noah asked her 5- year- old sister.

"Nothing is wrong with Mother." Mahlah quickly replied.

"Why is she screaming so, then?"

"She is having another baby."

"Oh… Father seems worried."

"He is." They watched their father pace in front of the tent. The midwife appeared in the doorway, saying, "Zelophehad? You have yet another daughter. And Tirzah is fine."

He hurried into the tent, followed by his other two daughters. His wife lay, smiling and holding the baby. "Pretty baby!" Noah said.

All the others laughed. "What shall we name her?" Zelophehad asked his wife.

"What about Hoglah?" she suggested.

"Partridge… I like it." He said.

"So do I!" Mahlah said exuberantly.

"Then Hoglah she shall be." The growing family shared an embrace with their newest addition. And as Zelophehad looked at his growing family, he prayed that Jehovah would bless them and keep them under His care.


	4. Milcah

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 4: Milcah**

"Father, please sit down. You will not do Mother any good pacing like that." 8- year- old Mahlah told her father.

"I cannot stand this waiting. I never have been able to wait." He replied, sitting down with a sigh as he looked toward the tent longingly.

"I do not like it either, but worrying will do her no good." She responded.

"I supposed you are right." He agreed.

The midwife at long last called, "You seem to be making a practice of having daughters, Zelophehad."

He stood up quickly. "And my wife?"

"Is fine." He and his daughters quickly entered the tent to find his wife, who was looking more tired than ever. A loud wail pierced the air inside the tent, and 3- year- old Hoglah jumped. Mahlah laughed and said, "Well, she seems to have good, strong lungs."

Her parents laughed as her father took the baby into his arms. "What shall we name her?" 5- year- old Noah asked.

"Milcah." Zelophehad responded without hesitation.

"Counsel. I like it." Mahlah said.

"Indeed, it is a good name." Tirzah answered. The man and his wife leaned closer and began to kiss. "Yuck!" Noah whispered. Mahlah laughed and herded her little sisters out.


	5. Tirzah

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 5: Tirzah**

Zelophehad was kneeling, praying. He was praying for his wife and new child. "Zelophehad?" the midwife said.

He leaped up. "Yes?"

"You have another daughter." She said sadly.

"That is wonderful! But, what is wrong?"

"Your wife. She- she is dying."

"What?"

"She is older now. Her body could not stand the birth. I am very sorry."

"Is she dead yet?"

"No. But you should hurry." She didn't need to say it twice; he was running into the tent. He fell down beside his wife, sobbing. "My dear Tirzah. My love."

"Shh. I want you to promise me you will make sure the girls are brought up right. I love you."

"I promise. I love you, too." She smiled as she died. He kissed her body as he cried. There was a loud squeal beneath him. He picked his youngest baby up and said, "I will call you Tirzah after my wife and your mother." He held her close, and her crying subsided, but his did not.


	6. Your Father Will Be Forgotten

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 6: Your Father Will be Forgotten**

_**20 years later…**_

The now 33- year- old Mahlah opened the tent flap and motioned to her sisters. "How is he?" Milcah whispered.

"He- he is dying."

"Father is dying!?" Tirzah exclaimed.

"I am afraid so, little sis. Come, we must say our goodbyes." The five girls slowly and numbly entered the tent, where their father lay on a mat, gasping for breath. "My dear girls." He rasped.

"Save your strength, Father." Noah urged.

"No, I must say this: the LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance on you and give you peace." He took in a deep breath. "I am sorry I don't have enough breath and strength to give the five of you a better blessing."

"No, no, Father! We appreciate you even giving us a blessing, even though we are girls." Hoglah said, to which all the girls agreed.

"Maybe so, but girls are just as valuable as boys, in Jehovah's estimation and mine."

"We love you, Father." Mahlah said.

"And I love the five of you. Keep doing what is right in the sight of Jehovah." Then Zelophehad died. His girls fell over his body, weeping uncontrollably.

After his funeral, one of their uncles approached them. "I am truly sorry about your father, girls."

"We know." Mahlah said.

"What makes it even worse is that with him, his name died."

"Whatever do you mean?" Milcah asked.

"I mean that it will be forgotten in Israel that there ever was a Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph, son on Jacob."

"Why will Father be forgotten?" Tirzah said.

"Because he had no sons to inherit his land."

"He had us!" Mahlah said.

"Yes, but girls cannot inherit land."

"Why not?"

"Because that is not what God has ordained."

"But-"

"Now, now. We do not question God."

"I know."

"Good," was all that their uncle said. Later, when the girls were alone, Tirzah asked, "How can we keep people from forgetting Father? We cannot inherit the land!"

"Yet. We cannot inherit the land yet." Mahlah said.

"What do you mean? We will never be able to inherit the land as long as Father has male relatives."

"Well, we can ask Moses respectfully."

"I think that is a good idea."

"We need to get sleep if we will do that in the morning." They all went to sleep, praying Jehovah would allow them to inherit their father's land.


	7. Give Them an Inheritance

**Give us a Possession**

**Chapter 7: Give Them an Inheritance**

The next morning, the five girls went to state their case before Moses and all the leaders of Israel. Mahlah said, "Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers."

Moses nodded. "I will ask the LORD." He said, rising and entering the tent of meeting. He soon came out, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'The daughters of Zelophehad are right in _their_ statements. You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father's brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, "If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall possess it; and it shall be a statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses."'"

The girls looked at each other. They never dreamed that because they asked the LORD for an inheritance that He would change the law of inheritance. It just goes to show that one life, or, in this case, five lives, can change a nation.

But later, the heads of the households of Manasseh told Moses, "The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.But if they marry one of the sons of the _other_ tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. When the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."

Moses told the people by the Spirit of the LORD, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in _their_ statements. This is what the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.' Thus no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each hold to his own inheritance." So Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah married within the tribe of Manasseh.


End file.
